The confidence of older people that before even The sun was shining brighter than now, as it turned out, has more than good reason. British scientist Dr. Harry Stanhill (Gerry Stanhill) based on analysis of data of perennial observations found that the amount of sunlight reaching Earth’s surface, continuously and rapidly declining.
A photo from open sources According to the BBC, Dr. Stanhill, working in present in Israel, back in 2001 called this phenomenon “global dimming” (global dimming). Comparing the total the amount of solar radiation reaching the Earth’s surface, beyond from the 1950s to the present, Dr. Stanhill discovered that this figure decreased quite noticeably – by 22%. Moreover, this trend is not local – data comparison observations made in various regions of the planet, gives a whole a similar picture. So, in the USA the sunlight “dimmed” by 10%, by USSR territory – almost 30%, in the British Isles – 16%. IN overall, the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth decreased 2% every decade, from the 1950s to the 1990s. The mechanism and consequences of this phenomenon are still poorly understood. degrees. The global dimming phenomenon is probably caused by pollution. atmosphere of the planet by products of industrial activity of man. Air pollution with solid dust particles leads to the reflection of part of the solar radiation back into space space and, in particular, to a change in optical properties the clouds. Dust particles serve as centers of condensation of water vapor, causing droplets in clouds containing dust particles more than usual, which in turn contributes to increased reflection of solar radiation. Theory of Dr. Stanhill, initially met with disbelief by the scientific community, was recently confirmed by his Australian colleagues who came to similar conclusions using a completely different methodology for accounting for solar radiation. Experts sounded the alarm. A number of scientists have expressed suggestions that “global dimming” may lead to significant changes in climate processes on the planet and in atmospheric circulation. Perhaps it is in him that lies the reason the terrible drought that hit the Sahara region in the 1970s and 1980s and leading to hundreds of thousands of victims. There is reason to believe that something similar before our eyes happens with Asia, where almost half of the world’s population. “In my opinion, global blackout is devastating to Asian monsoons, – said a professor at the University of California (g. San Diego) Veerhabhadran Ramanathan. – We we are talking about billions of people. “A very disturbing fact is the fact that this effect contributed to a significant underestimation true scale of the greenhouse effect leading to warming. Scientists have long noted a mismatch between the amount of solar energy absorbed in the atmosphere due to excess presence there is nitrogen dioxide, and a relatively slight increase average temperature – by 0.6 degrees. Revealed by an English scientist the “dimming effect”, having the opposite effect, can substantially hide the greenhouse effect. This, in its in turn, may mean that the climate is much more sensitive to the greenhouse effect than previously thought. If it really is so, this is very bad news, says Dr. Peter Cox Cox), one of the leading climate modeling experts. The thing is the fact that just in recent decades, the emission of carbon dioxide the greenhouse gas has risen sharply, while emission of dust particles leading to an oppositely directed the effect of “global dimming”, managed to be put under control. “We find ourselves in a situation in which the allocation of” cooling ” the atmosphere of pollution is declining, while its “heating” is growing, – he emphasizes. – This means a decrease in cooling effect during simultaneous increase in the action of the heating, and this represents a big problem. “Even the most pessimistic forecasts climate development on the planet, apparently adjust for the worst for humanity. Average growth temperatures of 10 degrees by 2100 becomes more than real. Significant territories of our planet may be destined become uninhabited.
Time Climate
